Halloween Mantle Mood Board

Over at Young House Love, Sherry and John make what they call Mood Boards.  It's where they take all the stuff they'd like to add to a room or area, or just a collection of stuff they like, and put all the items on a white background in Photoshop.

I'm still on my Halloween kick, and I've started looking at different mantle-scapes and what I could decorate my own little makeshift mantle with.  So, I made my own little mood board.

1. Halloween Monsters Garland, from here.
2. Pumpkins sitting on candle holders, from here.
3. Eat, Drink and Be Scary print from here.
4. White vases with wispy tree limbs in them, from here.
5. Candy Corn Garland, from here.
6. Candy Corn Vases with Candles, from here.
Just a starting point.  I'm sure I'll make a few more mood boards before Halloween gets here. :)

Some Pinterest Updates

I realized that I haven't been sharing a lot of my adventures with Pinterest lately.  I've made 4 recipes I found on Pinterest (really 5, but one was just terrible, so I'm not going to share it).  All original sources are linked to either the pictures or their captions.

• Wendy's Frosty Knockoff

picture used on Pinterest

• I made this, because I absolutely love Frostys.  A small Frosty has 300 calories, and this knockoff claimed to only have 80.  It has a bunch of good stuff in it - pudding mix, milk, cocoa, vanilla, and Splenda.
• After mixing it up in a blender, I had my first sip and was really darn smitten.  It tastes nothing like a Frosty.  But it does taste like a pudding milkshake, and it was delectable.  I'd recommend this; it's fast and sweet and good!

• Miracle Mac N' Cheese

• This recipe claimed to be extremely easy and quick, and made with homemade ingredients.  It was all of these things.
• I made this last night, and I thought it turned out rather well.  Justin wasn't a huge fan (he likes traditional-Southern baked MnC the best), but he said it was okay.  It was very fast and easy to make.  I would recommend this as well if you're dealing with someone less picky than my husband!

• Slow Cooker Cheesy Chicken Quesadillas

• I made these originally to get some use out of the quesadilla maker Justin and I got for our wedding.  They turned out quite well.  I'd like to add more spice/seasoning to the chicken mixture, but I'm not sure what I want to add to it.
• The recipe claims the chicken mixture to be very soupy, the original cook having to use a slotted spoon to remedy that problem.  Mine has never been soupy, and has always been nice and thick.  Not sure what I'm doing differently.  They are good, and super easy if you have a quesadilla maker.

• M&M Cookie Pie

• This thing.  Oh, my.  Not only is it incredibly easy to make, but it is scrumptious!  You basically make M&M cookie dough and plop it into a dish/pan instead of onto a cookie sheet to make a cookie pie.
• Every time I make this, it's a big hit.  Justin loves it (!).  I'd definitely recommend this.

So there you have it.  A small update on how I'm actually trying to accomplish what I'm pinning!  I hope all you other pinners are enjoying seeing your pins come to life, too!

Sugar.

I've been getting/using a lot of it lately!

Last week, I used this recipe from Urban Nester to make Baked Oatmeal Casserole.

It was a big hit with Justin and Dave, but I would have liked it more without the chocolate.  I'm one of those weird people who doesn't like the chocolate+fruit combo.

Good to the last bite!

With the leftover strawberries and bananas, I made Justin strawberry and banana waffles the next morning.  He loved them.

Today, Justin and I spent the 4th watching Hey Arnold! on Netflix most of the day and having red, white, and blue spaghetti for dinner.

The noodles look a little teal in these pictures, but they were more so blue!

Just before dinner, Justin headed out to go get a birthday surprise for me!  I wasn't sure what it was, but I was really excited about it!

He brought me a Kroger whipped-icing cake!!  It is, like, my favorite thing.

Purple icing!

I also got lovely flowers and a very sweet card. :)

It sure made for a great surprise kickoff to my birthday weekend!

I wish the day had started off as well as it ended, though.  My poor hubby woke up around 5:30 this morning knowing out-right he was going to throw up.  And after waiting an hour sitting on the bathroom floor, he finally did.  Afterward, when we tried to go back to sleep, he threw up again.  That's just not a nice way for anyone to start their day, especially a day off work!  But thankfully, he's doing much better now and didn't get sick anymore today.  Ginger Ale and McDonald's cure anything!

My mom bought me a 4th of July headband.  Rock on.

Hope everyone had a very Happy and Relaxing 4th!  God bless America, and bless us, everyone.

*I'd just like to apologize for some poor lighting in these pictures.  Delilah is on loan to my mother at the moment for photographing a wedding. :)

It's My Birthday Week!

The week of my 26th year is finally here! :)

I'm planning on going to Walmart, or even the dollar store, and getting some birthday stuff for myself.  Like, a Birthday Girl ribbon and streamers to decorate the apartment with.  Because I can.

I'm also going to photograph myself at some point this week and make something like this that I originally found on Pinterest.

I kinda hope I always treat my birthday as a big deal.  It seems the older you get, the less your birthday means to you and the less you celebrate it.  I understand doing this in favor of celebrating your children's birthdays with more gusto, but I read something once that really stuck with me.  It said to appreciate every birthday that you get, because someone was not as lucky as you.

Chilling words, indeed.

I made a bow!

I actually made the bow quite some time ago...

The pictures seen here are dated April 25 of this year, so I'm sorry I'm so late getting them up on the blog!  Other than the little pillow I (very quickly) made, this was the first thing I used my sewing machine to make.

I thought it came out really cute, but the tutorial I used (from Pinterest, of course) makes a very small bow because it's a baby bow tutorial!  It also calls for lace, but I didn't use any.  Still cute, though! :)  I just attached the new little bow to an old headband I had on hand by hand-sewing it on there.

I took these right after I cut my hair the previous weekend.  Don't you just love short hair with headbands?  I know, I have a problem.  Sue me. ;)

Pinterest Challenge: Heart Garland

Since Valentine's Day is my favorite holiday, I look forward to decorating for it every year.  I've been seeing a lot of Pinterest Challenges in the blogosphere, and have been wanting to complete one of my own challenges for several months now, but found nothing that really made me want to make it on my own.

Leave it to Valentine's Day to solve this dilemma!

This heart garland is SO easy.  And it makes such a nice little presentation.

Here is the original post I found on Pinterest:

 

The directions are pretty self-explanatory.  You take a heart-shaped paper punch, and then punch hearts out of whatever you want.  The original crafter used paint chips, which I loved, but couldn't find.  I just used scrapbook paper I had on hand.

Also, instead of threading the hearts, I used mini clothes pins and made a little clothesline above my kitchen sink!  SO cute.

 Not bad for a little 10-minutes-at-best craft, huh? :)